


The Tabatha Story

by predilection



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: Gen, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2015-11-10
Packaged: 2018-05-01 00:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5185172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/predilection/pseuds/predilection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moana asks Chase to cat-sit Tabatha. Koda ends up helping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tabatha Story

**Author's Note:**

> This fic can be read as a sequel to [Muddle Through (The First Five Weeks)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4830611). It takes place approximately three weeks after that fic and ten months before the series. (According to Yoshi Sudarso, Koda's only been unfrozen for six months at the beginning of Dino Charge, but my headcanon is that he's been unfrozen for about a year.) 
> 
> If parts of this story seem familiar, it's probably because a different version of this fic appears in chapter two of [We'll Build Our Own Happy Ending](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4582155). While that version focuses on Riley and Chase's ability to communicate with each other, this version focuses on Chase and Koda's early friendship. I hope you like it!

It started when Moana showed up at the museum near the end of Chase's shift and handed him a cat carrier containing a familiar orange tabby cat. 

"I have to leave town for a few days," she explained. "And I don't trust Tabatha with anyone else."

"Uh," Chase said, blinking at her in surprise.

She then handed Chase a large bag, which he took from her with the hand not holding the cat carrier. "This should be everything you need."

The bag was heavier than he expected. Chase glanced inside it and spotted cans of cat food, a kitty litter pan and some cat toys. Given how heavy the bag was, it wouldn't have surprised him if it also contained a bag of kitty litter at the bottom.

"I'll be back by Monday. Do you have any questions?"

Chase didn't particularly want to watch Tabatha right then, but he knew he would. He appreciated Moana's trust, and he owed her one. After all, if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have an energem. 

Besides, he had cat-sit Tabatha twice before. Even though Moana sprung this on him out of the blue, he was pretty sure he could handle it.

"Not really," Chase replied, shrugging. 

"Splendid," Moana said.

*

Chase left Tabatha in her cat carrier on a bench in the command center while he ran upstairs to fetch his headphones from the café's breakroom. He was gone for maybe five minutes, tops. 

When he got back, he immediately noticed that the cat carrier door was open and that Tabatha was nowhere to be seen.

"Really?" he asked the empty carrier. He was already a little frustrated that he had been roped into cat-sitting without being asked first and this wasn't helping. 

He sighed and started searching for Tabatha.

*

Half an hour later, Chase was sure he had combed through every possible cat-hiding place in the command center. He even left out some of her favorite wet food in the hopes it would coax her out of wherever she was hiding, but there had been no signs of her.

He began to worry that she somehow managed to get into the vast cave system the command center was built in. If she managed to get into the caves, Chase had no idea how he was supposed to find her.

After another forty five minutes of frantic searching, Chase went to only the person he knew who had experience tracking small animals in caves. 

*

Chase found Koda in his room -- well, it was technically a cave -- and explained the situation to him.

"Small cat is missing?" Koda asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah," Chase said ruefully.

Koda had only been in this millennia for two months and was grieving in a way Chase couldn't imagine -- after all, Koda had lost not only everyone he'd ever known but _everything_ he'd ever known. Still, Chase thought he was adjusting fairly well, all things considered. 

And if there was one thing Chase had learned about Koda in this short period of time, it was that he was extremely kind. Chase had seen him stop to ask distressed-looking museum patrons if they were alright, and he once offered a Bronto burger from his own lunch to a small, crying child. 

So it came as no surprise to Chase when Koda agreed to help him out.

Koda grabbed a flashlight and led Chase through caves that he hadn't even known existed. About five minutes into their exploration, Koda climbed a cave wall, reached into an alcove and pulled Tabatha out of it. Chase wasn't sure how Koda managed to find her, but he was grateful.

Koda held Tabatha at arm's length with his hands under her arms so that her stomach and legs stretched downwards. He held her like he wasn't sure how to hold her and like he was worried that she would attack him even though she didn't seem remotely bothered by their presence. 

He handed her over to Chase and Chase was so relieved to have found her that he cuddled her to his chest.

"What were you doing escaping like that?" he asked her. As if in reply, she butted her head against his chest, asking for pets.

Chase shook his head in exasperation -- if she had wanted pets, why had she run off? -- but smoothed a finger behind her ear. 

When Chase looked up, he noticed that Koda's attention was on Tabatha and that he was frowning.

"Do you have a problem with cats?" Chase asked him.

"Uh. Small cat different," Koda said, gesturing towards Tabatha with his hands. "Friendly. Strange."

"Not all cats are friendly. This one usually is though." He gently shook Tabatha. "Especially when she isn't _running away for no apparent reason_."

Tabatha began to purr and Chase rolled his eyes at her.

*

Koda was impossibly old, and it was easy for Chase to forget just how old he really was. So it was only as they were walking back to the command center that Chase remembered that domesticated animals were a relatively recent phenomenon. Domesticated cats were maybe ten thousand years old, and it was likely that Koda had never encountered them before. Suddenly Koda's earlier confusion regarding Tabatha made a lot more sense.

"Some people keep cats like this as pets," Chase tried to explain.

"Pets?" Koda asked.

"Like animal companions," Chase said. "They tend to be tamer than wild animals and people keep them in their homes."

Koda made a face that looked equal parts disgusted and confused. 

"Let me show you," Chase said when they made it back to the command center. He sat down on one of the workbenches and put Tabatha down on his lap. She settled on his thighs without any fuss, but Chase kept a hand on her since he didn't want to risk another escape attempt.

Chase pet her back and gave her scritches behind her ears. She turned her head into his hand, seeking out his attention.

"As you can see, she's quite gentle. If you want, offer her your hand like this," Chase said as he demonstrated what he meant.

Hesitantly, Koda crouched down next to them, and held his hand out to Tabatha the way Chase had shown him with his palm facing downwards and fingers extended. Tabatha sniffed his fingers and then batted at them with her head. Koda immediately pulled his hand back and eyed Tabatha warily, like he was scared that Tabatha was going to scratch him.

"Don't worry, mate. That means she likes you. She wants you to pet her the same way I am. See?"

Slowly, Koda reached out his hand again, placed it on Tabatha's head and carefully stroked her between her ears. Like before, he immediately drew his hand back and watched her for any signs of displeasure. When nothing happened -- except that Tabatha closed her eyes looking rather content -- he attempted to pet her again.

Koda reached for her a few more times, and Chase watched how he grew bolder and more confident each time. As Koda's hesitancy began to fade, he stopped pulling his hand away from her and just ran his hand gently across her fur. 

Chase patted the bench beside him. "Have a seat," he said to Koda, and Koda sat down next to him.

"Do you want to hold her?" Chase asked.

Koda looked up at him, wide eyed, and nodded.

Tabatha startled a little when Chase picked her up, but once she was on Koda's lap, she curled up on his thighs and closed her eyes. Chase let her go, confident she wasn't about to run off.

Chase watched Koda as he resumed petting her. Koda smiled down at her and his entire face lit up in a way that Chase had never seen before -- like he was truly _delighted_ for the first time since he woke up in this time.

Chase felt something in his chest clench at the same time he found himself grinning at the sight. While Koda's smiles were becoming more common, they were still rare, and Chase appreciated what he was witnessing. It was in moments like these that Chase felt like he saw a glimpse of the person Koda was before he was frozen. Perhaps, Chase thought, these moments were also glimpses of who he would become when he processed more of his grief.

"Much smaller and nicer than big cat," Koda said cheerfully. 

Recalling a story Koda had told him about sabretooth tigers, Chase huffed out a laugh. "Definitely," he said.

*

Koda continued to pet Tabatha for the better part of an hour. As the time passed, Chase became increasing conscious that he had to get Tabatha home soon. He knew he needed to set her up with water, food -- the wet food he had put out for her was dry now-- and access to a kitty litter, but he didn't want to separate her from Koda just yet.

It was then that it occurred to Chase that taking Tabatha home didn't necessarily have to mean separating her from Koda. "Hey, Koda. Do you want to spend the night at my place?" 

"Stay with Chase?"

"Yeah. You can spend more time with Tabatha, and I can tell you more about cats and order us pizza." 

Chase knew that with Koda in his apartment for the first time, his evening was going to be more complicated than it needed to be, and it was complicated enough with the surprise cat-sitting. But Koda was still smiling and Chase knew that even if his evening wasn't going to be easy, it was going to be good in all the ways that mattered.

"Pizza? And cat?" Koda asked, radiating excitement. "Yes!"

"Great," Chase said, and got up to grab the cat carrier.

While he was at it, Chase also grabbed some rope to secure the cat carrier with, because as much as he was okay with having a complicated evening, a kitty escape artist was a complication he didn't need to experience twice in one day.


End file.
